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Woodlands County leads in cable thefts

Telus expressed its displeasure with cable thefts occurring throughout Woodlands County during a regular County council meeting on March 6.

While Telus has seen a downward spiral in cable thefts across Alberta over the past seven years, Bettis stated that 90 per cent of its cable thefts in Alberta occurred in Woodlands County last year.

"We have seen an incredible amount of theft on our cable in the region," said Brian Bettis, a general manager with Telus.

These thefts often occur in residential areas and include ground, aerial and buried cable. Bettis mentioned Flats Road near Whitecourt as being the major problem area and that it once saw 23 thefts in a 13-week period.

"We've had some significant struggles in that area," he added. "It's just terrible."

Bettis estimated that 7,600 residents had been impacted by these outages and that repairs had cost around $320,000. Meanwhile, the copper stolen is typically worth $100.

"The greater impact isn't really considered when you look at the value of what was stolen," he said.

Telus is currently working with the local RCMP to stop these thefts. However, Bettis noted the five suspects arrested so far had no connections and that the same perpetrators weren't responsible.

Bettis also addressed the gaps in cell coverage throughout Woodlands County.

"I know that's always a hot topic here," he said.

Bettis explained that the upcoming 5G spectrum networks being implemented across Western Canada would help with this issue and bring "fibre to the farm." He estimated it would arrive in Woodlands County sometime late 2018 to early 2019.

Woodlands County Mayor Jim Rennie asked if there were any temporary solutions until then. Bettis replied that portable towers could be utilized for big events but weren't weather-resilient enough to stay outside for longer.

Bettis also promised he would bring some other options to council by the end of the month.

Kluin said that many residents in Fort Assiniboine couldn't get cell service despite being within sight of a tower. Coun. Dale McQueen also voiced frustrations, saying that council had met with Telus several times before to discuss this issue.

"I'm getting calls continually so when's the fix?" McQueen asked Bettis. "It hasn't gotten any better. It sucks. The service is horrible between (Whitecourt) and the fort."

Bettis replied that Telus had invested $10-million in the region for improving coverage and the "insatiable demand" for data could be causing these dead zones. He added that they could also be due to the large coverage area, the spread-out population and the diverse geography.

"You live in a beautiful place, but you know, part of that beauty creates significant challenges for us to cover," he added.

Rennie agreed that it was a "frustrating" situation.

"We've seen years gone by when we've had the same issues," he told Bettis. "We look forward very much so to your options."